Maybe you’re writing the next great American novel, or cutting together a masterpiece destined for Oscar greatness. Or you simply make jewelry at home and sell it on Etsy. Whatever. Now this may sting a little, but regardless how great your product turns out, some people will hate it and state their opinions very publicly. Yes, even you, guy over there with the ventriloquist dummy. Especially you. But I digress.

My first book was meant as a humor parody mashup of military manuals and fatherhood books. It was intentionally goofy with a few real nuggets of wisdom thrown in just to prove I actually pro-created. It even states so in the preface pages. However, certain readers took the book as gospel and blasted it (and me) very publicly across various sites, including Amazon and Good Reads. And I made the mistake of rebutting the criticism. I should have let it go and accepted the fact that most readers, those that got the humor, loved it. But no, I had to get my hillbilly on and kick off a flame war, which did nothing but fire up the other haters and make me look like a defensive, over-sensitive kook.

So here’s my advice: Let it go. Engage with your audience but stay away from the Crazy Screechy Monkeys.

Here’s a great post by author John Scalzi, who’s sold a couple of books. (Actually a couple of million.):

NORFOLK, Va., Dec. 7 (UPI) — Two U.S. Navy SEALs accused in the abuse of an Iraqi detainee were arraigned in Virginia Monday, with one declining to enter a plea and one pleading not guilty.

While Special Warfare Operator 2nd Class Matthew McCabe, the SEAL charged with assaulting the prisoner, didn’t enter a plea, he told reporters after the proceedings at the Norfolk Naval Station that he and his co-defendants are innocent, Navy Times reported.

“Neither I or any of my teammates did what they are accusing us of,” said McCabe, whose trial was set for Jan. 19. “If I had agreed to non-judicial punishment, I don’t believe I would have gotten a fair trial. I believe that in a trial, when all the evidence is heard, I will be acquitted.”

McCabe also is charged with dereliction of duty and making a false official statement.

Fellow SEAL Julio Antonio Hertas Jr., pleaded not guilty to charges of dereliction of duty, making a false official statement and impeding an investigation. He is to be tried Jan. 11.

A third SEAL, Jonathan Elliot Keefe, had his arraignment continued to an as-yet undetermined date.

Military authorities allege McCabe punched Ahmed Hashim Abed, the alleged mastermind of a 2004 ambush in Fallujah in which four Blackwater security contractors were hanged and burned, at Camp Schweidler, Iraq,

Capt. Moira Modzelewski, the judge who will preside over McCabe’s trial, issued a protective order, limiting what can be discussed publicly about the case.